Erik hellesen



UNITED STATES PATENT OEiucE;

VILHELM LOUIS FREDERIK HELLESEN, OF COPENHAGEN, DENMARK.

D RY BATTE RY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,151, dated October 28, 1890.

Application led March 2, 1889. Serial No. 301.801. (N0 model.) Patentedin Germany November 2, 1888, No. 48,448 i inrauce February 5, 1889, No. 195,870; iu Belgium February 5, 1889 No. 84,897; in England February 8, 1889, No. 2,297; iu Switzerland March 7, 1889, No. 550, and in Austria-Hungary March 20, 1890, No. 9,479 and No. 51,663.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, IVILHELM LOUIS FRED- ERIK HELLESEN, asubj ect to the King of Denmark, residing at Copenhagen, in the Kingdom of Denmark, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Dry Batteries, (for which I have received Letters Patent in England, No. 2,297, dated February 8, 1889; in Austria- Hungary, No. 51,663 and No. 9,479, dated March 20, 1890; in Switzerland, No. 550, dated March 7, 1889; in France, No. 195,870, dated February 5, 1889; in Belgium, No. 84,897, dated February 5, 1889, and in Germany November 2, 1888, No. 48448;) andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in dry batteries, reference being made to the accompanying drawing,wliich represents such an element.

Having found through experiments that in all active chains the formation of gas is inevitable, whether it be from local causes or from overcharging if they are used as storagebatteries, I had to give up the idea of closing them hermetically. In order to prevent the liquid electrolyte carried away by the gas from spoiling either the insulation or the metallic contacts, I make use of two closed receptacles, placed one inside the other, both provided with air-holes, the space between them' being filled with some porous substance, so that, for instance, the gas escaping near the top of the inner receptacle must pass through the space of the two receptacles, so as to come oit perfectly dry through the air-holes near the bottom of the outer receptacle. In thus admitting the air the ad mixtures usually employed for keeping the wet electrolyte in its place would not do. Fibrous and other porous substances increase through their capillarity the baneful local effect of the atmosphere on the zinc, while gelatinous matters will shrink and leave the electrodes; nor can substances which, like plaster-of-paris, will form a cast be used, as the size and shape ofthe electrodes are subject to changes duringV use. I therefore transform the electrolyte in a thick sticky substance through the addition of gums or similar substances, preferably tragacanth, which is not acted upon by the electrolyte iu question and does not materially add to the electrical resistance. In consequence of the stickiness ot the tragacan th the electrolyte remains in contact with the electrodes. The inclosed drawing represents such an element.

A is the outer and B the inner receptacle, the air-holes being marked u. The space e between the two receptacles is filled with sawdust, slag wool, or some similar substance.

C is a piece of carbon with the metallic head c, and b a wire, of copper, fastened to the' zinc receptacle B.

D is the paste, made of depolarizing substance inclosed in a porous bag H, surrounded by the thick slimy mattei-containing the electrolyte and marked G.

d shows a little hole in the outer receptacle, serving as inal outlet for the gas escaping from the element.

E is a layer of plaster-of-paris or similar porous material, which is covered by a layer of pitch F or other impermeable material, so as to compel the gas evolved to pass through the plaster-ot-paris E and through the holes a, by which the zinc receptacle is perforated, to arrive into the space c between A and B, tilled with absorbing substance, and at last escape through the perforations d of the outer receptacle.

VVhatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

A battery element consisting of two receptacles A and B, shut by the common cover F,

of impervious material, the outer receptacle A being provided with the holes CZ at the bottom part, the inner receptacle B having the holes a at its upper part, the space between both receptacles being tilled with porous substances, and the receptacle B being covered by a layer E of porous material and filled with a sticky substance, which surrounds the electrolyte G, protected by the porous bag H, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I aftix my signature in presence of two witnesses. Y WILHELM LOUIS FREDERIK HELLESEN.

Witnesses:

PONE PETERSEN, LAURITZ NIELsEN. 

